Fire damages apartment complex

Published 7:00 pm, Friday, August 8, 2008

Eight apartments in the Cypress Pointe complex on Andrews Highway were damaged Friday afternoon when two young boys were playing near a bush and accidentally started a fire, officials said.

The fire sparked before 5 p.m. Friday in a shrub on the south side of Building Four at Andrews Highway and McDonald Street when a 4-year-old and a 9-year-old were playing with either a lighter or matches and accidentally set the vegetation on fire, said Midland Fire investigator Alan Kilgore.

The flames quickly spread up the building's south outside wall and into the attic where it continued to the neighboring apartment causing minor to severe smoke and fire damage to several units, said Assistant Fire Marshall David Hickman.

"I couldn't even think of what to take with me," said resident Brissa Mantiquez, who was getting ready for work when a neighbor banged on her door alerting her to clear the area as smoke started pouring toward her apartment.

Crews had the fire contained and were dousing hot spots around 6 p.m. No residents were injured and one firefighter suffered minor burns to his arm, but was treated on scene and released to continue fighting the flames, Kilgore said.

The children were taken into custody by police when crews arrived on scene, and Kilgore said they were honest about what had happened and never imagined their game would end the way it did. Because of their young age the incident will not carry any criminal charges, Kilgore said.

Joseph Spurgeon said he was leaving a nearby building to head to a job interview when he saw the fire start and called 9-1-1.

He and another resident rushed from apartment to apartment alerting residents to evacuate and saving the few animals they heard making noise inside the burning building.

Wendy Hollers arrived home from work in tears looking for her dog who was rescued by Spurgeon. She walked away from the building not looking back at her apartment that was completely destroyed by a collapsed roof and charred walls.

"Right now I wish I had renter's insurance," she said.

Other residents also said they didn't have renter's insurance and that they heard sirens often on Andrews Highway and assumed it was a car accident until they saw smoke and heard other neighbors outside.

"The kids were playing outside and started screaming fire," said Rachel O'Donnell, who lives behind the damaged building.

Ann Johnson said she's lived in her apartment 13 years and remembers the building next to hers catching fire a few years ago, but said she's never had problems in her own unit. Her son Cedric Johnson ran into her smoke filled apartment to make sure she wasn't there before officials brought him out and he found his mother watching the flames from the parking lot of the nearby daycare center.

Kilgore said fire officials go into schools each year to urge children not to play with matches and he reminded the 9-year-old that though the children obviously had no intent to cause this much damage, the child had heard the lecture at school last year.